Anatomy Class

Remember back in anatomy class you dissected animals to learn their inner workings? (Yuck, I know.) You came to class and you were handed your worm, frog, or other small animal, and completed your assignment for the day.

That’s not how it works here in the Philippines.

Here, students dissect cats. Sounds ok, right? The difference? They must catch their own cats and bring them to class….alive. You see, feral cats run rampant here. Sad to say, they’re really a nuisance. I will spare the gritty details, but I’ve heard stories of cats trying to escape traps, anesthesia gone wrong, etc.

As an animal lover this does break my heart. As an American, this is culture shock! (PETA would be all over this back home!)

I can’t say if it’s right or wrong. It’s not my place. I’m still adapting to my surroundings and finding my “new normal.” It’s just stories like this that catch me off guard and alert me to other ways of life.

I wonder which “normal” practices back home would seem appalling to other cultures.